Meet Jay
My name is Jason Carder, but everyone who knows me calls me Jay.
Since I left school at the age of 16, I've been deeply involved in Health and Social care. If someone had told me as a child that I would spend my entire adult life working in care, I wouldn't have believed them. I never had any inclination towards this sector, especially remembering how the elderly residents at care homes used to frighten me during visits with my Mum! But looking back now, I'm amazed at how much my perspective has changed. Building connections and nurturing relationships with residents has become the most rewarding aspect of my job.
Thirty years of working in care has given me lots of valuable experience, education, interpersonal skills, but most importantly how to genuinely care for people. There is no education or qualification that can ever teach you how to do this. Rather it comes from a place of empathy. For the first six years of my career, I worked in what you could call ‘institutional care.’ By institutional I mean that everything was regulated and controlled, from what time people could have dinner to the standardised uniforms we as staff wore. At the time, I thought we were doing a great job. The reality was that I was as institutional as the people living in the home.
As my career progressed, I began to question why the system worked in the way it did. Why is everything so structured? Why do we not allow people more choice in their lives? It was through these sorts of questions that my opinion changed and as my confidence grew, I started to challenge this type of care. Fortunately, the general culture in social care is becoming less institutionalised, but there still is a way to go.
There are two reasons why I have moved into coaching. The first is to try and help a new generation of careers continue this change away from regimented care. The second is that I want everyone I work with to have a shared vision of what constitutes good care. This comes from a genuinely empathetic approach that comes from the heart and is delivered with integrity.
Constantly while caring for someone, any carer should ask themselves, would this be good enough for a family member. If you genuinely ask yourself this, you already have the key ingredient to succeed.
I have been lucky to be part of care culture changes for the last 15 years and I only ask one thing from anybody that wants to work in social care. Do it from the heart and do it with integrity. This is why I teach; I want everybody to have a shared vision of great quality care.